Work on the bike skills park has been discontinued – for now.
On Monday, council officially voted to discontinue work on the project in the planned Riel location and to return the remaining money to the major recreation facilities fund. If new sites are available in the future the project will be reconsidered.
After a report from staff in late January that suggested there might be insurmountable problems with trying to go forward at the 43R Riel Drive site, council had paused for further discussions. At issue was the likelihood that any application to construct the bike skills park as planned would be denied, as the project would have had to get approval under the Water Act.
Coun. Cathy Heron had tabled a motion to continue with the work on the site, attempting to simplify the scope with hopes that an altered design might allow the project to go forward.
But on Monday she took that motion off the table. The new report to council said there would still be a likelihood of Water Act approval being denied if the scope was changed, since the area is part of a flood plain.
Instead, council voted unanimously to discontinue the work on the site and return the leftover money to the general fund.
Coun. Sheena Hughes made that motion and said council could consider new sites as other land comes online.
“We know we have new lands that are coming on,” she said.
Hughes, Mayor Nolan Crouse and Heron all highlighted what they called “scope creep” that had taken this project from the original suggestion of a dirt track with some moguls to plans for a mountain bike skills park.
“This project was consummated as dirt bike moguls,” Crouse said. “Ultimately the scope creep caused the name to get changed … and then drama crept in.”
The drama included a few years of trying to find an appropriate site to put the park. The idea of locating the amenity in Liberton Park met with significant community opposition. A few dozen more sites were reviewed after that, and the Riel site and one in Grandin were identified as the best possibilities.
Those who live near Gloucester Park quickly rallied against the idea of their only nearby green space hosting a bike skills park. Ultimately council decided to go with the Riel site, which was more centrally located, on the trail system and not in a residential area.
The project had been approved for a budget of $200,000, which included $25,000 for planning and up to $15,000 to complete a natural areas assessment.
